H!STORY
If you've ever met me you know I have more stories than stars in the night sky. I continue to live a unique life and seek new challenges and adventures in order to create harmony between work, life, and community. Hopefully the following will provide some insight on the continuing evolution of Ink Lounge and mission to do good stuff.
1992-2000 Graduated with a BFA from Colorado State University, emphasis in graphic design, moved to Seattle and worked as a desktop publisher at a small print shop for 2 years. Eventually moved back to Colorado and did freelance design. After a few years started working at several design agencies including Vermilion in Boulder and Factory in Denver. I also become a member of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), the national design association for the United States.
2001-2006 Started my own design studio and over time intentionally shifted the focus where 90% of our clients were nonprofits. I became more involved in AIGA serving several terms on the Colorado AIGA board of directors including; education, events, and president. It’s also how I met my wife, who was the Creative Director for Bonfils Blood Center, and we got married in 2005! I got my first screen printing kit and started dabbling with it in the living room. In 2006 the PeaceJam Foundation was having the largest gathering of Nobel Peace Laureates in US history in conjunction with a youth conference. I was hired to do the branding for the conference and decided this would be a perfect occasion to screen print a commemorative poster.
2007 Screen printing complemented design and was full of new, unique challenges. So we created Ink Lounge as a side project to the design studio with the concept of a community space for people to see unique printmaking exhibits, take screen printing workshops, and for us to find ways to work with the community. My wife, also a graphic designer, and I ran it together and we pinky swore we would never take on commercial projects. Only workshops to fund our own projects and supplies.
2008-2017 We moved several times, into larger spaces. to be more efficient and eventually combined the design and screen printing into one 3,700sqft studio. We had a larger staff, a retail section, multiple galleries with art exhibits year round, open studio for local printers, 100+ workshops a year, birthday parties, team-building events, after school programs, large scale community events and fundraisers, participated in and ran craft markets. The biggest shift was I bought a used flatstock press that allowed me to take on much larger projects for the music industry.
2018-2023 We were working 60+ hours a week, 7-days a week, and even though so many good experiences, it was exhausting. So we took a step back to ask ourselves what we wanted out of life. My wife’s goal was to go back to being a full-time designer and I wanted to scale the studio back and focus on screen printing posters, small workshops, and community engagement. So in 2019 Nicky became the Brand Manager for the State of Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Finance and we rented out half of the studio. Some bumps along the way, but we recovered most of our sanity!
2024-Present The studio moved to be closer to home where I continue to make a living screen printing posters nationally for the music industry. Most projects I’m working with other artists, but I will take on commissions if the project fits my schedule and interest. This allows me to consistently donate my design skills and screen printing to support the community for what I call my Good Ink projects!
